When the Houston Astros traded for Philadelphia Phillies closer Ken Giles this offseason the team created an extremely competitive atmosphere at the back end of the bullpen. However, veteran Luke Gregerson has emerged as the closer after spring training.
Manager A.J. Hinch made the announcement Monday morning following months of speculation. At the time of the trade many believed Giles would slip into the closer role and Gregerson would become the setup man, but the veteran lobbied for himself throughout the offseason.
Gregerson had a limited spring (2-1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 6 K), but Giles did enough to prove he wasn't ready to take over the ninth-inning duties exclusively. The 25-year-old allowed seven earned runs on 12 hits and three walks in just 9-1/3 innings (nine games), and his opponents hit .308 off him.
The Astros' opening day matchup against the New York Yankees was postponed today, but Hinch still addressed the media and spoke about the closer situation. He said Gregerson is going to be the club's "primary closer," but that doesn't mean Giles won't have an opportunity to get some saves or pitch with the game on the line.
"I'm going to have Giles pitch in a couple of different roles, depending on what the highest-leverage situation of the game would be," Hinch said. "That's not to say Giles isn't going to get a lot of saves; not to say Giles isn't going to close some games. But for the purposes of getting guys prepared, it's important they know generally how they're going to be used.
He also said the decision does not mean Gregerson is going to have "every single outing he has as the closer."
The 31-year-old went 7-3 with a 3.10 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 59 strikeouts and 31 saves (36 opportunities) in 2015 with the Astros. The right-hander owns a 2.49 ERA and 1.06 WHIP with 470 strikeouts and 50 saves in seven MLB seasons.
On the other hand, the young Giles has spent two seasons in the bigs and owns a 1.56 ERA and 1.04 WHIP with 151 strikeouts and 16 saves in 113 games. He became the Phillies' closer last year after the team traded Jonathan Papelbon to the Washington Nationals.
Now, it'll be interesting to see if the Astros keep this hierarchy in place for the duration of 2016. Giles' spring training struggles are not indicative of his actual abilities, and Gregerson was not without his flaws last year - he blew five saves, including three in August/September, and made a few games a lot closer than they should have been when he came in to finish out the ninth.
Either way, the Astros will have a deeper bullpen than they did last year, and that will certainly help them make another playoff push.
